Friday, March 17, 2017

Writer's Block (a haiku)

blank
thoughts, blank white page

opportunity
brings death

to
inspiration

Just when I’m presented
with a significant stretch of uninterrupted time in which to write and create, the
unthinkable has happened...I’ve fallen victim to a paralyzing case of writer's
block. Opportunity, it seems, is an opportunist, lying in wait, the thief of creative
thought and motivation. Hours of the past week have been spent in front of the
screen and the page, yet they have netted very little in terms of actual literary
substance. Eventually able to eke out a paragraph, I revisit it only to
discover it is complete and utter codswallop. The haiku above is the only
complete written work I've been able to formulate, and it, in and of itself, is
nothing to write home about.

If I’ve learned anything
this week, it’s that inspiration seems makes itself known to me in the busyness
of a typical day… the feeding, shuffling and raising of kids, household maintenance
and the running of errands, the attending to studies, supervision of homework,
making of dinner, bath times, bedtimes, on and on and on. On days like these,
phrases and ideas appear as lightning bugs on a summer night, points of
illumination momentarily materializing and ripe for the capture. Given the
unstructured luxury of spring break, however, and I find myself staring down
the dark depths of a well of words that has run dry. Oh well, maybe next week…

1 comment:

This is an ongoing struggle for me. When I am busy with errands, chores, work, or any other responsibility, I keep thinking of amazing ideas I don't have time to develop. Then, I get a rare stretch of free time (such as spring break) and my brain does not want my body to sit down and work.

For example, today I have worked on my book for a half hour -- and then my brain said, "Hey Wade, you should stop writing and check your student blogs to see what's new."

So, now I'm telling that it's back to work for me... let's hope it soon becomes back to work for you.

I don't know if this will inspire you or put pressure on you... But I want to read more of your work. I want to find out what happens next in your novel, and I look forward to your reflections and experiments. So that means you have at least one fan -- and I bet you've got more that haven't spoken up on this blog. So keep it going!